Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Salary in North Dakota

The North Dakota Workforce Intelligence Network recognizes the field of physical therapist assisting as having exceptional job growth prospects for the period spanning 2012 to 2022. As of 2014, physical therapist assistants in North Dakota earned an average annual salary of $54,770. The average salary for a physical therapist assistant in Bismarck was $51,010, while PTAs in Fargo earned an average of $46,920 that year.

Experience remained one of the key factors in what a PTA could expect to earn. The average salary for an experienced PTA in North Dakota was $63,600 in 2014, while those new to the profession earned an average of $37,110.

As part of the North Dakota Physical Therapy Association’s delegation to PT Day on Capital Hill, PTA Holly Shilling visited Washington, DC to help advocate for policies that would benefit the PT profession and its patients. Both of North Dakota’s Senators voted to repeal the therapy cap that limits the amount of Medicare/Medicaid dollars that can be spent on therapeutic services.

Factors Contributing to Job Growth for Physical Therapist Assistants in North Dakota

The North Dakota Workforce Intelligence Network (NDWIN) estimated that the number of jobs for physical therapist assistants in the state will increase more than twice as fast as the state’s average job growth rate between 2012 and 2022. With an expected job growth rate of 30.4% during this ten-year period, NDWIN predicts that 73 new jobs will become available to PTAs in the state during this period.

As of 2012, there were 138 physical therapist assistants licensed in North Dakota. All but one of them was employed in the health care and social assistance fields. Employment for physical therapist assistants in North Dakota is buoyed by the substantial increases in growth in health care jobs over the past 20 years.

The North Dakota Workforce Review for 2015 stated that healthcare and social assistance is the largest source of jobs in North Dakota, and that increases in employment and wages have been particularly strong over the past ten years. The level of employment in this industry grew 42.1% between 2004 and 2014. Salaries also increased substantially during this period with a 51.6% increase.

Of particular note to physical therapist assistants in North Dakota is that the level of employment in the ambulatory health care services sector increased by 3.2% between 2013 and 2014. This sector includes specialty clinics, which is a major employer of physical therapist assistants.